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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Urban Revivo has been touted as a rival to Zara in Asia and is looking to expand to the West.</li><li>I tried on clothes at both shops, but my shopping experience at Urban Revivo was better.</li></ul>Urban Revivo is quickly emerging as a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-24/chinese-zara-rival-urban-revivo-is-said-to-weigh-hong-kong-ipo">rival to Zara</a> in the Asian fashion market, with competitive prices, similar store aesthetics, and a large selection of clothing items.The fast-fashion brand, founded in 2006, has <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://urbanrevivo.sg/pages/about-us#:~:text=The%20brand%20has%20more%20than,United%20States%2C%20Europe%20and%20more">more than 300 outlets</a> in mainland China and Southeast Asia.But it now plans to expand its business to <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/urban-revivo-us-uk-expand-fast-fashion-nyc-london-fmg-2024-7">cities like New York and London.</a>Meanwhile, Urban Revivo's competition — the Spanish fast-fashion powerhouse Zara — is <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/dec/12/zara-pulls-uk-ad-campaign-images-gaza">weighed down</a> by <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.newsweek.com/zara-boycott-controversial-ad-bodies-sheets-israel-hamas-1851186">boycotts over the Israel-Gaza war</a>, impacting its reputation.I checked out the two brands' outlets in Singapore's Jewel Changi Airport and put together basic outfits in each store. Here's my review.<h2 id="baca7690-c343-4a6f-8321-42ad80b9f1ee">Urban Revivo's fits felt way better than Zara's</h2><div type="image" title="(Composite image) The author trying out basics from Zara and Urban Revivo." height="768" width="1024" msid="112163879" hostid="261" sizebytes="54848"></div>I wear US size 6, but I found it difficult to find pieces that fit me properly in Zara.I tried on four basic white tops, but some were too loose around the armholes, while others were too tight around the waist.I tried on a couple of pairs of jeans, too, but was again faced with the same issue.<div type="image" title="The outfit that the author picked out at Zara, consisting of a pair of jeans, a white tank, a beige cardigan and a handbag." height="960" width="1280" msid="112163870" hostid="261" sizebytes="163576"></div>I finally settled on a no-frills white tank ($18.50), a beige knit cardigan ($49), and the straight-leg jeans ($45.90). I added a basic white handbag ($56.60), bringing the total to $170.In contrast, the first thing I noticed about Urban Revivo's offerings was the quality of the pieces. They felt sturdier than the clothes at Zara. The first tank top I put on fit me like a glove, as did the first pair of jeans I tried.<div type="image" title="The outfit that the author picked out at Urban Revivo, consisting of a pair of jeans, a white tank, a black cardigan and a handbag." height="1280" width="960" msid="112163873" hostid="261" sizebytes="75446"></div>My picks included a black-outlined white tank top ($10), a cropped black cardigan ($41.60), a pair of dark wash jeans ($41.60), and a sparkly black handbag ($57.90), for a total of $151.10.However, one drawback for Urban Revivo was the range of sizes available in the store. The largest jeans size I saw was a US size 8, whereas, in Zara, the range went up to size 14.As the name suggests, Urban Revivo's pieces were more street-style than Zara's. Most pieces had a neutral color scheme compared to Zara's more colorful offerings.<h2 id="373b5067-cb9a-40b6-a406-858acacfd69c">The Urban Revivo store experience rivals Zara</h2>The two stores have similar aesthetics, with clean white interiors.Zara's store was largely open concept — a rectangular-shaped floor plan with most products hugging the walls.<div type="image" title="(Composite image) Zara's storefront in Singapore's Jewel, and a picture of its interior." height="768" width="1024" msid="112163880" hostid="261" sizebytes="62830"></div>It was also very brightly lit. The store design worked fine, but it wasn't anything spectacular.In contrast, Urban Revivo felt like it had intentionally curated its space with a flow in mind. The products were displayed in aisles, prompting shoppers to follow a proposed pathway.The store also had arches, adding visual interest to the outlet's design. <div type="image" title="Urban Revivo's interior." height="813" width="1083" msid="112163865" hostid="261" sizebytes="126878"></div>Unlike Zara's bright lights, Urban Revivo was lit more dimly, creating a more relaxed environment.Mário Braz de Matos, the cofounder of Flying Fish Lab, a branding consultancy agency in Singapore, told BI that Urban Revivo invests "far more than any other fast fashion brand in the shopping experience," something other brands like Zara, H&amp;M and Uniqlo are focusing less on.<h2 id="e4618bb1-1337-41b5-8074-989376f78d2a">But Zara doesn't have to worry just yet, experts say</h2>While I thought that Urban Revivo was a strong alternative to Zara, experts told BI it doesn't pose a major threat yet. For one, they say the two brands cater to different target demographics."The UR (Urban Revivo) styles are mostly cute and youthful, while Zara offers more sophisticated clothing, most likely for working," said Marcie Cooperman, a professor from the fashion marketing department of Parsons School of Design.Gregory Angel, an assistant professor of fashion at Parsons, echoed Cooperman's sentiments."Urban Revivo has a variety of products, but there is a 'sophomoric' feel to it," Angel said.And while one might think the Gaza boycott would have people searching for a Zara alternative, the experts are skeptical that political activism will have a lasting impact on the Spanish brand's business."Customers do not have the courage of their convictions for very long," Cooperman said."If they even have a conviction to boycott a brand, they will forget about it as soon as they see something cute on its website," she added.They also say that it's too early to determine if Urban Revivo will be a true threat to Zara."Fighting the incumbents is always an uphill battle," Braz de Matos of Flying Fish Lab said."For now, Urban Revivo is too small outside China to be felt as a threat to Zara. They can compete with Zara in every market where they are present but may not be seen as a menace," he added.Angel said: "Will it be a competitor or a little sister? The market has yet to find out."Richard Tang, CEO of international business at Fashion Momentum Group, Urban Revivo's parent company, said that his firm did identify Zara as a primary competitor. Tang added that while both companies have a broad consumer base, Urban Revivo is gunning for customers who are "quality-driven elites, white-collar professionals, and the new generation of fashion pioneers.""Urban Revivo has evolved, particularly with its global expansion, into its own distinct market position, despite price and product range similarities to Zara," Tang told Business Insider."This strategy is not only about competing with Zara but also about creating a distinct brand image and influence in the foreign market," Tang said. Representatives for Zara did not respond to a request for comment from BI.

I shopped at Urban Revivo, Asia's answer to Zara. I'm a convert, but experts say Zara has nothing to worry about — yet.

Urban Company will scale keeping the needs of service professionals in mind

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A former PepsiCo exec sued the company for fraud and defamation after it said he didn't invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos.</li><li>Richard Montañez said he proposed the idea while working as a janitor and ultimately rose through the company's ranks.</li></ul>A former executive at <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pepsico-pepsi-high-prices-putting-off-us-shoppers-sales-america-2024-2">PepsiCo</a> has sued the company, claiming he should get credit for being the brains behind Flamin' Hot Cheetos.Richard Montañez has frequently spoken of his rags-to-riches story, from starting out as a janitor to pitching the idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos to PepsiCo's CEO to becoming an executive himself at the drink and snack giant, which formed the basis of his successful career as a motivational speaker. He published a memoir in 2021, and his life story was made into the film <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/flamin-hot-cheetos-movie-devon-franklin-eva-longoria-richard-montanez-2023-3">"Flamin' Hot"</a> in 2023.But an explosive Los Angeles Times investigation in 2021 claimed to debunk his claims about the origins of the Flamin' Hot flavor, supported by evidence from PepsiCo. Montañez filed a six-count lawsuit against his former employer on July 18, accusing it of fraud and defamation for making the comments to the publication.PepsiCo declined to comment when contacted by Business Insider, citing ongoing litigation. Frito-Lay did not respond to a request for comment. <h2 id="50d637c8-24bb-4f4b-b71e-955486143747">Montañez says he pitched spicy Cheetos while working as a janitor</h2>Richard Montañez's PepsiCo career began in 1976 when he started working as a janitor at its Frito-Lay factory in Rancho Cucamonga, California, per the lawsuit.During his time at the company, he experimented with making various flavored snacks at home to potentially pitch to the company, according to the lawsuit. But his big breakthrough came when a machine in the factory broke, and he was able to take home a batch of unflavored Cheetos, which he dusted with chile powder to try to replicate the flavor of elote, Mexican grilled corn with chile powder, per the lawsuit.In 1991, Montañez set up a meeting with PepsiCo CEO Roger Enrico to present his idea for spicy Cheetos, which he thought would be popular with the Latino community. Enrico liked the idea so much that he ordered PepsiCo to start making spicy Cheetos, the lawsuit says.But PepsiCo "attempted to cut Mr. Montañez out of parts of the process," the lawsuit says.PepsiCo launched nationwide sales of Flamin' Hot Cheetos in 1992. The product has since become a huge success for the company.PepsiCo sent Montañez on speaking engagements at places including Walmart, Target, and Harvard University to talk about how he developed the product, the lawsuit says.Montañez continued to develop other spicy snacks for PepsiCo and ultimately became PepsiCo's vice president of multicultural marketing and sales, according to the lawsuit.Montañez left PepsiCo in 2019 to dedicate his time to motivational speaking, charging between $10,000 and $50,000 per talk, per the lawsuit.<h2 id="8aaa9bfb-7665-40b0-802a-bb8d71ca3b4f">Frito-Lay says the 'facts do not support the urban legend'</h2>Montañez's story has been disputed. In 2021, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-05-16/flamin-hot-cheetos-richard-montanez">The Los Angeles Times</a> published an investigation that seemed to debunk Montañez's claims. More than a dozen former Frito-Lay employees, as well as the company itself, told the outlet that Montañez wasn't behind the development of the Flamin' Hot flavor."We do not credit the creation of Flamin' Hot Cheetos or any Flamin' Hot products to him," a spokesperson for Frito-Lay told The Times, adding that its records didn't show that he was involved "in any capacity" in the product's test market."The facts do not support the urban legend," the spokesperson said.Instead, Flamin' Hot Cheetos were developed by a team of snack food professionals in Frito-Lay's Texas headquarters, designed to compete with products sold in inner-city mini-marts in the Midwest, The Times reported. Enrico, the PepsiCo leader that Montañez said he met to pitch the product, didn't become CEO until nearly six months after Flamin' Hot Cheetos were launched in test markets, the Times reported.Montañez didn't start taking public credit for developing the products until nearly two decades after they were invented, per The Times.The lawsuit said that PepsiCo had made "false and misleading statements" to The Times in what it described as "an inexplicable about-face." The article was "defamatory," the lawsuit says.The lawsuit says the article made potential business partners and members of the public "distrustful" of Montañez to the detriment of his livelihood and mental health. This includes a significant drop in speaking bookings.The lawsuit says that Montañez was unaware that PepsiCo was already testing spicy snacks in some Midwestern markets at the same time that he was working on his own product.In a later statement, a spokesperson for PepsiCo told <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/pepsico-defends-richard-montanez-claims-earlier-statements-were-misconstrued-1234979160/">Variety</a> that it attributed the launch and success of Flamin' Hot Cheetos "and other products" to several people, including Montañez.Montañez "had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees," the spokesperson said. PepsiCo's previous comments had been "misconstrued" and fractured its relationship with Montañez, the spokesperson said.The lawsuit accused PepsiCo of fraud and defamation and said the company discriminated against Montañez because he was Mexican. It is seeking damages and an order preventing the company from making comments suggesting Montañez didn't create the product.

A former PepsiCo exec sued the company for saying that he didn't invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos while working as a janitor

<ul class="summary-list"><li>A 41-year-old client manager was fired for browsing adult content at work, but said it wasn't him.</li><li>The Shanghai man blamed a virus that infected his computer or his own colleagues, per the local court.</li></ul>A financial services worker in Shanghai who was fired for browsing pornographic websites at work has sued his former employer, blaming a virus that infected his computer.The 41-year-old client relationship manager, identified by the municipal high court by his surname Yang, sought $43,000 in damages and said his contract was wrongfully terminated, authorities said <a target="_blank" href="https://weibo.com/ttarticle/p/show?id=2309405009221782470997">in a report on Thursday.</a>Chinese courts do not typically name prosecutors and defendants in full for civil cases that are not high-profile.Yang had worked for five years under his employer and earned about $2,360 a month until he was fired in August 2022, per the Shanghai High Court.The average monthly salary in urban Shanghai was around $1,700 that year, according to the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.shpt.gov.cn/shpt/fy-fyzx/20230629/903363.html#:~:text=%E6%9C%AC%E5%B8%822022%E5%B9%B4%E5%BA%A6%E5%85%A8,%E8%B0%83%E6%95%B4%E4%B8%BA7310%E5%85%83%2F%E6%9C%88%E3%80%82">latest government statistics.</a>Yang's employer said that Yang had breached his contract — which prohibits employees from consuming pornography at work — by accessing "little movies" on his work computer. The term is a euphemism in China for explicit videos.But Yang submitted company records that showed his colleagues often downloaded movies or shows on their work computers outside business hours. He said that this may have caused his computer to become infected by Trojan malware, per the court.He also showed the court a photo of his office, which was an open space with no speakers, and said such a working environment was not conducive for consuming pornographic material, the report said. Yang said the "little movies" thus must have been watched by someone else.<h2>Yang admitted to an adult site membership in his 'personal reflection'</h2>Yang's employer, who was not named, fired back with internet records that showed the adult site browsing was performed while Yang sent files to colleagues and actively performed work tasks, indicating he was using the computer at the time, per the Shanghai court.It also showed the court a transcript from a messaging chat group, where Yang wrote in a "personal reflection" submission to his boss that he had signed up for a membership on an adult content website and struggled with self-discipline.In the reflection, Yang said he would have to repeatedly return to the website to click on links, allowing him to earn points and maintain his membership status, per the court.<div type="image" title="A photo taken during Yang's hearing." height="416" width="682" msid="108320925" hostid="261" sizebytes="16404"></div>The Xuhui Court ruled that Yang clearly breached his contract and struck down his claim for $43,000.But the now-fired client manager was awarded $1,090 for five days of paid leave that he didn't take in 2021, which Yang had included in his lawsuit, per the municipal court.This isn't the first time Yang has sued his employer for the same firing. He tried to ask for $47,000 in damages in November 2022 but was only given $1,500 for leftover PTO that he didn't take that year, per the court.In the US, the rise of remote work saw a striking increase in the number of employees using company devices to access adult websites. In 2020, the number of workers who <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/employees-porn-work-computers-remote-hr-legal-2020-8">admitted to such acts grew six-fold</a> compared to 2019, according to a study by software company Netskope.Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky reported that 51% of the 6,000 employees it surveyed in 2020 said they <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/more-people-watching-porn-on-work-computers-coronavirus-remote-work-2020-5">watched adult content on the devices they use for work.</a>

A finance professional fired over watching pornography at work said it was because his computer was infected by a Trojan virus

<ul><li><keyword id="9648465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sima-taparia">Sima Taparia</keyword> from Mumbai is back and she’s telling fortune again. This time, it is with <keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> and the audience is loving it.</li><li>Tarun Menon, Director Marketing, Urban Company takes us behind the platform's latest influencer marketing campaign with Sima Taparia, shares the thought behind partnering with her and larger goals for this year.</li></ul>Last year, Netflix's Indian Matchmaking introduced India and the world to ace matchmaker Sima Taparia and she quickly became one of the most talked about character from a reality show. The first season ended in July 2020 but the audience hasn’t stopped stanning over Sima Taparia yet. Sima gained instant popularity among millennials and Gen Z and never faded away from the news cycle. Over the past year, brands like Burger King, Tinder, Asian Paints flocked to partner with the internet sensation, who recently starred in Big Boss OTT. Meanwhile, brands are still not over her. Recently, she featured in a campaign for home service and grooming platform, Urban Company. Before Netflix renewed Indian Matchmaking for season 2, Urban Company’s Align your Stars campaign with Sima Taparia generated a lot of chatter on social media. It helped the brand garner 4.5+ million views in less than a week. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Telling us why Sima was the perfect match for this campaign, Tarun Menon, Director Marketing, Urban Company said, “Sima enjoys cult-like status and is best known for matchmaking based on the stars. She was one of the most talked about people online in 2020. It was a punt – to see if the choice of influencer and content could drive engagement for the campaign.” “The videos themselves have been well received across social media with people relating, reacting and engaging with the content - and has given us learnings to bake into our next campaign,” added Menon. Its marketing objective was to create buzz ahead of the launch of Big Home Rush, an Urban Company sale property. To further spread awareness around its discounts and gain new customers, Urban Company partnered with 14 different young influencers such as Kusha Kapila, Vishnu Kaushal, Mallika Dua, to mention a few, to create content for each zodiac sign. The underlying message of each piece was to encourage consumers to join Urban Company’s Big Home Rush sale. Launched in January 2021, the Big Home Rush sale has become extremely popular with consumers. Even in the ongoing second edition, the company has already delivered close to 500,000 services, witnessing high demand from cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad and more. Sharing why it chose influencer marketing to promote its sale, Menon said, “With other media formats driving awareness, the influencer leg sought to create engagement and conversation around the sale, in a way that’s native to the platform (Instagram). We’d observed that in the last 2 months, sun-sign based content was growing in volume, engagement and traction - as people tag their friends and conversation flows organically.” Before Sima Taparia, Urban Company’s partnership with yesteryear’s TV stars such as Rupali Ganguly as Monisha Sarabhai and Komalika also received a positive response from its audience. The idea behind casting such a unique set of stars, from Sima to Monisha, was to find women who can express shock and help open a door for them in the regional markets. “These content pieces were part of a larger campaign for Salon Classic - a newly launched category that offers salon quality services at unbelievable prices. Our intent in partnering with influencers and content creators was to integrate the key message - salon services at unbelievably low prices - into content &amp; culture. It made sense to partner with influencers best known for expressing shock – Hindi TV celebrities with a cult following for the roles they play. We further extended this concept to regional TV artists as well, to build relatability for regional audiences. We are looking to attract new customers and engage existing consumers through this campaign,” shared Menon. Due to the global pandemic, Urban Company has seen an uptick in the demand for home cleaning and hygiene services as people are becoming more health-conscious. The app had become quite popular for its home repair and salon services before the pandemic broke out. However, people have been wary about letting outsiders inside their homes lately. Urban Company rose to the challenge and tweaked its marketing strategy. It started communicating every day about the changes it introduced in its services and updated its audience regularly about the number of employees vaccinated. It tweaked its logo across platforms to convey the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask. Apart from that, it realised that people are looking for a lot of DIY videos to make the best of their time. Therefore, it started uploading beauty and wellness video tips to help its consumers surf through the challenges they are posed with. It is also conducting live sessions to engage with its consumers. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Telling us how the company has tweaked its larger marketing strategy after the pandemic to win consumer trust, Menon shared, “We focused on communicating every day about the changes we introduced in our services and SOPs. For example, we completely reimagined certain services, such as threading, to ensure low contact with consumers. For threading, our Beauty experts now wrap the thread around their neck, instead of pursing it in their mouth. We launched extensive campaigns to build communication on our safety protocols and how the Urban Company experience has been reimagined for delivering safe and hygienic services. Our ‘<keyword id="11886690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="uc-safe">UC Safe</keyword> Salon campaign’ included TVCs featuring Neena Kulkarni and Shweta Tiwari aimed at communicating the safety of Urban Company’s salon at home services. More recently, in May ‘21, we ran an extension of the UC Safe campaign, highlighting how over 75% of our service professional base is now vaccinated.” Home services sector in India is largely unorganized and Urban Company is one of the few companies that is formalising it and despite being in the business for 7 years, Menon says that they are still just getting started. Sharing his larger goals for this year, Menon said, Our focus areas will be to increase market share in existing markets and increase penetration in new cities. In the past 2 years, we have expanded to 30 cities in India. Our goal is to be present in the top 100 cities over the next couple of years.”

It's a match: When Sima Taparia met Urban Company and helped the brand gain over 4.5 million+ views in less than a week

<ul><li>Jobs platform and professional network <keyword id="9861237" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="apna-co" source="Orion">apna.co</keyword> has witnessed robust growth since its inception in 2019. Today it has a consumer base of 20 million, a number it plans to double in the next 12-18 months.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="7634738" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-deorah" source="Orion">Rahul Deorah</keyword>, Head of Marketing, apna.co to understand his plans for achieving this target.</li></ul>Most people looking for jobs on different job portals have come across fake job postings but there are still many who end up falling for these fraudulent postings. Jobs platform and professional network apna.co is on a mission to ensure its platform is as clean as possible and that it is able to connect jobseekers to relevant, genuine employers. The platform brought Rahul Deorah, who was previously a part of <keyword id="8681398" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-company" source="Orion">Urban Company</keyword>, on board as its head of marketing in November last year. Deorah already has his plan charted out. Deorah feels apna has embarked on a Herculean task, to solve the earth-scale problems of unemployment, poverty and upskilling. He plans to do it by strengthening the platform, giving both jobseekers and prospective employers a good experience. He walks us through his plans of ensuring apna is able to achieve the ambitious goals it has set for itself in the next few years to come. Excerpts: Q) It’s been around 3 years since apna came into being. How has the journey been so far? Let me walk you through our journey so far. We launched apna in 2019 and our job is to connect job seekers with recruiters, and vice versa. Fast forward to 2022, we have over 20 million users, with a presence in over 50 cities. We have about 2 lakh people who trust us. Last month, we facilitated close to 20 million interviews through the platform. We try to create and expose opportunities to the rising workforce of India. Everyday we hear people asking, where are the jobs? At the same time, if you speak to prospective employers, they say they’re not finding the right candidates. So this is an asymmetry of information in the market that apna is trying to bridge by firstly ensuring that people who are posting jobs are deeply verified and have the right intent. At the same time, the candidates who are applying to jobs are well-filtered so that when they are connected to the employers, both sides get a relevant lead, ensuring higher chances of conversion. That's what we do today. In the future, we are working towards building a strong professional social network for the rising workforce of India, just like <keyword id="28120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="linkedin" source="Orion">LinkedIn</keyword> does for you and me. We also want to create upskilling opportunities for our target audience to help them move ahead in their careers. Q) The pandemic brought about a seismic change in the world around us. How did it affect apna’s business? During the pandemic, especially the second wave, we felt that we had a huge responsibility, to ensure that all with the reverse migration, people could find enough opportunities to help set up their lives all over again. And during those 4-5 months of the second wave, we grew by almost 70% because we were working overtime to ensure that everything is at the right place for the candidates to find the right opportunities and the employers to post the right kind of jobs. Q) How have you been communicating with your audience? How have you been able to grow your reach? Apna is a network effects product. More employers will bring more candidates and vice versa. And the second network effect is a professional network that you create for these candidates, where people from similar vocation can speak to each other, just like we do on LinkedIn. So the power of the product has helped us grow over the last couple of years. Secondly, we have put together some innovative marketing campaigns. We’ve worked a lot to ensure that our value propositions which we swear by and execute are communicated to the candidate. There is a lot of asymmetry of information in the market and a lot of job postings on the internet are fake. That's something we’re extremely mindful of. When a candidate comes to apna, he or she knows that the jobs on our platform won’t be fake. And that helps us. Once they find the job, they refer us to multiple of their friends and family. So walking the talk is our second critical piece. Marketing can only take you so far. If you're selling something that is not right for me, I won’t care about how beautiful your ads are. Q) Word-of-mouth has worked well for you then? Absolutely. And word-of-mouth is a function of good execution. Q) You spoke about some innovative marketing. Can you give me a few examples? Marketing has two parts. The first is what you say and the second is how and where say it. The ‘where you say it’ part has been democratized over the last 5-6 years because people are spending more and more time on their phones. So when about 30-35% of their attention span in a day ends up being on the mobile phone, that becomes a conduit for us to reach our audience. What we say becomes extremely critical because we primarily focus on our value propositions. The reality is that this is a market that is plagued by mistrust. So if you walk the talk, your audiences and consumers will absolutely love you. We ensure that we only talk about things that we can actually execute and pull off and I call that innovative because you're doing the regular things but you're doing it well. We don't discount any mediums. We use anything that helps us reach out to our audiences. Q) Where does the majority of your target audience reside? Is it metros or smaller cities? We don't really segregate it that way. We try to understand where are the right opportunities for the right candidates. Our internal data says that over 50% of people in say a city like Agra are looking for jobs in Delhi. So while we target them in Agra, we tell them about jobs in different cities. Q) Can you talk us about your growth? Where are you currently and where do you want to go? Today, there are over 20 million consumers who trust us. Our aim is to at least double this number in the next 12-18 months because you can't do enough for the country. We want to ensure that we keep working hard and delivering on what our aim and ambition is, and hopefully add to the growth of the country. Q) There are already many players in the segment who have been around longer and already have a wide consumer base. What gives apna an edge? Internally, we don't really worry about or discuss competition because if we know what the right thing to do is, we just execute on that. So what gives us the edge is, over the last couple of years, we have very deeply focused on ensuring that the experience of the candidates as well as the employers is absolutely fantastic because that would make people come back to our platform. We make sure every call is genuine. Of course, if today we’re good, in the future we want to be exceptional. So we have a long way to go. If we keep doing the right things consistently, we only have the size of our ambition to worry about. Q) Is there a community communication side to apna as well, similar to what we have on LinkedIn? Absolutely! That’s one of our core focus areas. We launched a community product or groups for Indian professionals where they can send each other connection requests and connect with each other. Some of our groups like government job preparation or beautician groups are buzzing. We have included this in our Android app. We see people sharing helpful tips to each other, they try to help each other find jobs. And it's a very safe and professional place to communicate with each other and build a professional network for the rising workforce in India. Q) How big is the team currently? How are you expanding it further? We have about 500 people across India. We need to at least double this number over the next 18-24 months if we want to hit our ambitious goals because there's a lot we want to do. Q) Going ahead, what are a key focus areas for you going to be? A key focus area for us for this year as well as for the next 4-5 years is to keep improving the platform, the candidate and employee experience and our community. We already have over 70 communities and groups for different kinds of vocations, our task is to keep improving on those so that people look forward to coming online, sharing and exploring better opportunities for themselves at all times. As a company, we believe that for the rising workforce of India, there's a glass ceiling that people around them have created for them. They are told they can’t go beyond that and they themselves start believing that. We want to break that glass ceiling. Secondly, our aim would be to take our brand story to the world. Today, how much we can help people is not very well-known within our target audience. So our job would be to take that message to the right people in the right way which will help catapult growth.

Today 20 million consumers trust us, we aim to at least double this number in the next 12-18 months: Rahul Deorah, apna.co

<ul><li>Even though the ‘<keyword id="3080230" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-economy" source="Orion">gig economy</keyword> workforce’ is a new concept, the <keyword id="37465" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="film-industry" source="Orion">film industry</keyword> has been working with such a model for decades.</li><li>The Indian film industry employed over 2.5 lakh people in 2017 alone.</li><li>Despite the unionisation of the Indian film industry that protects the rights of freelancers, there are a lot of issues left to be dealt with.</li></ul>Gig workforce is the hottest new trend that has emerged with the rise of the digital economy leading to the advent of companies like Zomato, Swiggy and <keyword id="8681398" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-company" source="Orion">Urban Company</keyword>. Widely overlooked, but the concept of hiring contractual employees has been around for decades, if not centuries. That’s right. The Indian film industry has been one of the biggest employers of gig economy workers since its beginning. The Indian film industry employed over <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/731218/employment-in-the-film-industry-india/">2.5 lakh </a>people in 2017 alone. Business Insider hosted Academy Award winner and Indian film producer Guneet Monga and Urban Company’s cofounder Varun Khaitan in its Future of Work event — held on September 16 and 17 — to throw more light on the topic. Monga said that the film industry in general has been employing several freelancers for decades, whether it is light boys, dancers, junior artists, art directors, cinematographers and more. The term <keyword id="7771650" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gig-workers" source="Orion">gig workers</keyword> has come up with the advent of the digital economy. “It can seem unstructured, but it actually works very well in the <keyword id="278613" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="freelance" source="Orion">freelance</keyword> business there… There is a union in this segment and that brings about a structure. But there are also some major challenges that come with it,” she added. She elaborated that the many freelancers have spoken about how difficult it is to get into the union or how expensive it is. Besides this, the segment does not get health benefits, does not come under labour codes and more, even though the payments are fixed due to the existence of a union. Watch More: What film producer Guneet Monga talks about unionisation in Indian film industry and what challenges it presents <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Khaitan, on the other hand, elaborated how Urban Company, an at-home services startup, has managed to overcome such challenges in the beauty and home segment. He noted that a salon or a service shop would employ 10-15 professionals and were essentially the “middlemen”, therefore a professional’s income would be capped. Urban Company has not only offered a more flexible working environment, but also increased their take home income and offered them health benefits. Khaitan also noted that allowing these service professionals to get in touch with customers directly has provided them with more respect and business prepositions as well. “There is actually a very high price point here [Indian film industry] even to become a part of the Union. And then there is a supply of enough and more people are constantly getting inducted, but there is definitely a bottleneck on how unions function. They do protect them [freelancers] in terms of providing for jobs, but the kind of structures that you [Urban Company] are talking about is still, I feel, not in the best shape here right now. And this has just been our industry that has been thriving on freelance,” Monga added. She elaborated that while the Indian film industry has been striving for freelancers, it's not with a vision of bringing people together or offering insurance or health benefits or looking into labour laws. Watch More: What Urban Company’s Varun Khaitan had to say on the current conditions of freelancers in Indian film industry <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Khaitan, sharing his experience, said “There are middlemen who claim to be good representatives and good samaritans of the workers, but are actually not. They are in some sense the heart of the problem, because a few things that just came up in this chat show there is no sense of balance between supply and demand in what is happening across the trade in the film industry and what that leads to is there is no sense of actual monthly earnings. So everyone just fights for what I can make on this job and it leads to an unheadly spiral.” SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/the-only-way-to-beat-the-bots-from-taking-your-job-is-to-be-more-human/articleshow/86282273.cms">Future of Work 2021: The only way to beat the bots from taking your job is to be more human</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/easemytrip-touches-market-cap-of-a-billion-dollars/articleshow/86285130.cms">EaseMyTrip touches market cap of a billion dollars</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/biocon-hero-motocorp-tvs-motor-banks-and-other-top-stocks-to-watch-out-for-on-september-17/articleshow/86281250.cms">Biocon, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Motor, banks and other top stocks to watch out for on September 17</a>

Here is what the Indian film industry can learn from gig economy firms like Zomato and Urban Company

<ul><li>Considering that we are still fighting a global pandemic, brands tried to tread the line between humorous and insensitive campaigns this year.</li><li>So, from <keyword id="6361865" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="volkswagen">Volkswagen</keyword> (Voltswagen) to <keyword id="11029505" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ola-airpro">Ola AirPro</keyword>, here are a few April Fool’s Day campaigns that almost had us fooled!</li></ul>With COVID cases on the rise again, we are all looking for a comic relief. This April Fool’s Day, brands have got your back. On the first day of April, brands usually pull a prank on their consumers by launching fake products, misdirect them into hoaxes or simply remind them to not be a fool. This year too, brands did not disappoint. They used their marketing campaigns to help their consumers giggle or drive home a bigger message through their pranks. On the other hand, experts applauded Google’s decision to put pause on its April Fool’s prank this year. The tech giant aims to express its solidarity with the healthcare workers and the grieving families recovering from the loss of loved ones. To help you forget the bigger prank life is pulling on all of us, here are a few light-hearted campaigns that caught our attention and made us laugh: Ola As fuel prices skyrocketed this year, Ola decided to launch a fully autonomous electric flying car called ‘Ola AirPro.’ The car is so light that you can lift it with one hand and you won’t ever need to worry about finding the perfect parking spot and worry about poor urban planning. Over the years, Ola has almost always played a prank on its users on April Fool’s starting from announcing Ola newsroom to Ola Restroom. With its clever campaigns, the brand never fails to drive home a bigger message and comment on the ever-changing socio-political environment. <div type="twitter" handle="bhash" handlename="Bhavish Aggarwal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1133256267340713984/UaxcE0fi_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2298" retweetcount="555" status="Excited to unveil the world’s first and only fully autonomous electric flying car. The Ola AirPro. Ab har family bh… https://t.co/WEdjAhqK6f" createdat="1617259659000" id="1377512970196971524"></div> The ride-hailing company has also launched a <a href="https://olaairpro.com/" data-type="tilCustomLink">website </a>to track consumer interest. <keyword id="263363" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="MTV-India">MTV India</keyword> Ever fell for “Bas 12th nikal lo, ek baar college mil gaya toh maze hi maze?” Join the club, friend! This campaign will make you ponder upon a lot of bad decisions that you have made in your life. At least we took an unwanted trip down the unpleasant memory lane. MTV India’s April Fool’s Day campaign is an eye-opening comment on unrealistic standards that our parents often set for us. It is about those parents who make your life, career and relationship decisions for you. “So, this April Fool’s Day, raise a toast with MTV and have a laugh for being the fools we never intended to be,” reads its caption. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> Ever made the mistake of snoozing your alarm and barely made it to your 9 am Zoom call? Urban Company has a solution for you! Its new #AlarmAtHome service will send a trained professional to wake you up from your sleep, no matter what. Jokes apart, some of us unorganised bachelors really need this. <div type="twitter" handle="urbancompany_UC" handlename="Urban Company" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1336196738294534144/rKe5BkVP_normal.jpg" favoritecount="12" retweetcount="2" status="Our new #AlarmAtHome service for those who take their sleeping a little more seriously! 😴Wherever you are, we prom… https://t.co/tOynAUWmC3" createdat="1617261511000" id="1377520736978362369"></div> <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> The e-commerce giant gives you a glimpse of the future with its April Fool’s Day prank. It said that the platform will accept bitcoin as a mode of payment. While it is just a prank, it might be a possibility very soon! This social media campaign is conceptualised by Dentsu Webchutney. <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="4825" retweetcount="1066" status="The future is here. We now accept Bitcoin as a convenient mode of payment. Update your app now. https://t.co/l3MlY2qwRd" createdat="1617211834000" id="1377312378061135872"></div> Volkswagen A brand that had everyone talking with its April Fool’s prank globally is Volkswagen. Carmaker Volkswagen published a press release announcing that its US operations will be changing its name to ‘Voltswagen.’ The move, read the release, was to signify the company’s commitment to electrifying its fleet. However, the auto giant has now announced that it was just a prank. <div type="twitter" handle="VW" handlename="Volkswagen" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1247872762317766657/oco3obe0_normal.jpg" favoritecount="6786" retweetcount="1978" status="We know, 66 is an unusual age to change your name, but we’ve always been young at heart. Introducing Voltswagen. Si… https://t.co/Kyd0An7wGt" createdat="1617106067000" id="1376868756782219266"></div> Keventers What does a brand do when Holi and April Fool’s Day are almost back to back? Shake it up for its fans with some well-intentioned fun, 'cos “Bura Na Mano, Holi Hai”. Keventers launched a limited time period ‘Bhang Flavoured Milkshake’, on the eve of the Holi long weekend; with a reveal on April Fool’s Day of how they had orchestrated a well-timed and aptly themed prank around a product that didn't really exist. The result of the campaign was to get more eyeballs and create social media chatter around the Bhang Flavoured Milkshake. It also gave the brand an opportunity to engage with existing audiences and reach out to new ones, while reminding them that Keventers is a brand that has a personality, a sense of humour, and a penchant for experimentation. The brand’s page saw a week-on-week jump in profile visit by 60%+ increase and its impressions hiked by 500%+. It also received 2K+ calls in their outlets across the country just asking for Bhang Flavoured Milkshake. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Ixigo Turbulence is a major cause of anxiety for travellers. So, this April Fool's, Ixigo decided to launch a smart seat that makes its travellers' trip turbulence-free. According to Ixigo, its anti-turbulence cushion is a result of our groundbreaking research in gyro sensors, hydraulic pistons and industry-grade shock absorption. With applied learnings from car suspension systems, earthquake resistance technology and NASA following their robotic suspension for the Mars rovers. Marking the company's foray into the air cushion packaging market, anti-turbulence cushion has already received 1,500 registrations. <div type="Youtube" id="Ilh1xVGOmBk" title="ixigo smart seat - anti turbulence cushion" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ilh1xVGOmBk/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

April Fool’s Day: Brands that pulled the best pranks this year

<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we talk to brands to understand how they are coping with the new normal and their strategies towards navigating these difficult times.</li><li>As <keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> starts operating in a few selective green zones, we speak to Rahul Deorah, Vice President - Marketing, Urban Company to understand how its regaining its consumers trust, what kind of employee wellness programs it has introduced to ensure they feel motivated, and its larger marketing strategy for the lockdown. </li></ul>Urban Company (earlier UrbanClap) has seen an uptick in the demand for home cleaning and hygiene services as people are becoming more health-conscious. The app had become quite popular for its home repair and salon services before the pandemic broke out. However, people have been wary about letting outsiders inside their homes lately. Urban Company rose to the challenge and tweaked its marketing strategy. It started communicating every day about the changes it introduced in its services and SOPs. With gradual relaxations in the lockdown, Urban Company is slowly and steadily opening up its services. And after seeing a high demand for home cleaning, it has also started offering disinfection services for cars and commercial spaces. It has opened its salon services in a few selective green zones. And now that people are under house arrest and have limited access to various services, Urban Company did some social listening and mapped out a few trends. It tweaked its logo across platforms to convey the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask. Apart from that, it realised that people are looking for a lot of DIY videos to make the best of their time. Therefore, it started uploading beauty and wellness video tips to help its consumers surf through the challenges they are posed with. It is also conducting live sessions to engage with its consumers. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> We caught up with Rahul Deorah, Vice President - Marketing, Urban Company to further understand what kind of precautions the organisation has taken to ensure the safety of its employees, the idea behind its latest mental-wellness initiative, UC Academy, and its larger marketing strategy. Excerpts: Q. How challenging have the last few weeks been for you as a brand? The past few weeks have been challenging for us. As a brand, we have tried to ensure that we are in touch with our consumers. We are keeping them posted about the changes in service SOPs and the complete shift towards hygiene and safety to ensure that they get the best possible service experience in the safety of their homes. Q. From your wide umbrella of services, which ones are you offering right now? Since the last month, we have been slowly and steadily opening our services. Our Home Repairs and Maintenance services - appliances repairs, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and cleaning – are available across non-containment zones. Seeing the huge request and requirements, we also launched Disinfection Services for cars, home and commercial spaces. Lately, we also opened up our beauty and salon services in a few cities. Q. Now that salon services have begun, what precautions have you taken to ensure the safety of your employees? What kind of response have you seen for the same? We have made the following changes in our SOPs: 1. All UC professionals are equipped with 3-ply masks, gloves and hand sanitizers. 2. Usage of single use products and disposables to ensure zero cross-contamination 3. All service partners have been trained according to WHO prescribed hygiene standards. 4. Sanitization of all tools and equipment prior to the services 5. All our professionals are required to undergo a daily temperature check, which is visible to the consumer on their app 6. Low contact roll-on waxing and threading for maximum hygiene We have seen really good feedback to start with. Customers are liking the way we are providing the services with utmost caution. Q. People are becoming more health-conscious and finally maintaining hygiene at their homes, so have you seen an increase in demand for your home cleaning services as well? Yes, we are noticing increased demand in cleaning and disinfection services. Q. What has your marketing strategy been during the lockdown weeks? Have you changed your media mix, investing more on platforms like Digital since a few other mediums like OOH/Print have been suffering due to the lockdown? We have been always present on digital platforms for our marketing campaigns. Although over the past few months, we have decreased our spends and pivoted towards organic modes of communication. Q. A lot of brands have started doing webinars, have you joined the bandwagon? What kind of response have you seen around it? We are participating in a few webinars for sure. We also host fireside chats with industry leaders but currently these can be attended by employees only. We haven’t yet started an in-house webinar series that’s open to all. Q. Have you seen any changes in consumer behaviour? Yes, a lot. Consumers have become a lot more aware about the issue. They are taking a lot of measures themselves to ensure safety and hygiene is maintained. The following are the changes: a. Media Consumption: Usage of TV, OTT has increased b. Self Care: People are spending a lot of time for fitness and personal care c. DIY solutions to problems d. Online Deliveries for essentials have increased e. Need for self hygiene has increased Q. How are you utilising this time to upskill your employees? Have you introduced any mental health awareness and/or health care programs? We have introduced a program called UC Academy within our company wherein the company’s leadership have been taking online sessions for upskilling. The topics are across different functions and problems. Q. How are you preparing yourself for when things come back to normal? Because we think it will not be the same. Things won’t be the same as before for sure, at least not until a vaccine or cure is found. I believe as a company we have already taken several measures with respect to partner and consumer safety, such as introducing an 8-step safety process for each service category. Apart from this, we have procured and delivered safety kits (comprising gloves, masks, eye goggles, hand sanitiser) for all our partners and will continue to invest in this round the year.

Marketing in the times of COVID-19: Urban Company

New Delhi, Jan 30 () Home services company UrbanClap on Thursday said it is rebranding itself as Urban Company, and aims to onboard about 10 lakh professionals onto the platform by the end of 2025.
 "The new umbrella brand captures our ambition to be a horizontal gig marketplace with a global footprint and leadership across services categories like beauty and wellness and home repairs and maintenance," Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Bhal told .
 He added that the company has built a fleet of over 25,000 professionals that will be scaled up to 10 lakh by end of 2025.
 Bhal said the rebranding will also help the company develop sub-brands under the umbrella brand.
 The company, which has established its operations in international markets like Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sydney and Singapore, is also focussing on expanding its presence further within the India market.
 "We aren't looking at adding more international locations right away, but we will add more Indian cities. There is a huge scope for home services in the top 30, 40 cities in India and we would want to serve consumers with a full bouquet of services across various price points," Bhal said. SR ANS
ANS

UrbanClap rebrands itself as Urban Company

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New Delhi, Apr 30 () Home services marketplace Urban Company has urged the government to relax norms for essential services amid the lockdown, a move that will allow consumers to avail services from within their homes while helping thousands of self-employed professionals to start earning their livelihoods again. Urban Company, formerly known as Urban Clap, provides access to home services like repairs, servicing of appliances and pest control by trained professionals through its platform. Urban Company co-founder and CEO Abhiraj Bhal noted that many state governments have allowed economic activity to resume in a gradual and measured fashion in the second phase of the lockdown that is slated to end on May 3. "As we approach the end of the second lockdown period, it is advisable to quickly expand the scope of essential services to include all home services, including appliance repairs and service, pest control, home cleaning, barbers, basic beauty services, etc, and include e-commerce service platforms that facilitate such services and service providers," he added. Bhal said services at home facilitated by e-commerce platforms will help consumers avail these services within the safety of their homes. "The time has come to ease some of the lockdown restrictions and allow citizens to avail an expanded list of essential services. E-commerce companies have been a lifeline for consumers around the world during these tough times and should be allowed to facilitate provision of essential services in India as well," he said. Bhal added that such a move will let consumers to avail services while they continue to stay indoors, and allow thousands of such self-employed professionals to start earning their livelihoods again. SR HRS

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